🇮🇹 The Art of Investing Heads to Rome
Rich is off to FX World in Rome, where he'll be joining panel discussions representing The Art of Investing. Wish him luck in the comments!
🎙️The Long and Short 🎙️
Can't wait until Friday? Rich McDonald and Piers Buckworth host The Long and Short every single Wednesday - 45 minutes on single stocks and the tech sector.
📈 Download the full Portfolio Performance Slides
View the portfolio breakdown here
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This week on The Art of Investing, the gents are suited and booted, just in time for the first big disappointment from a hyperscaler.
Rich McDonald, Mark 'Spice' Holden and Chris 'CJ' Fellingham unpack Google's cash burn, strong numbers from Microsoft and SK Hynix, and a market crash in Brazil.
Then CJ delivers his verdict on the "breathing room" Budget - 99 pages of changes for a net £7bn and 4p off gherkins - and what it means for gilts, banks and housebuilders.
And finally, the team pick apart the Fed's hawkish hold, ask whether the Fed put is back and weigh up a wave of AI-driven job cuts.
This Week's Highlights:
🔍 Google Wobbles as the Hyperscalers Raise Billions
Google posts negative cash flow, while Meta, OpenAI and SpaceX raise vast sums of new capital.
🇧🇷 Brazil's Market Crashes
The Bovespa falls 14% in a day after Lula is voted back in as president.
🇬🇧 The "Breathing Room" Budget
CJ calls it the "rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic" Budget, and explains why gilt investors should take no comfort.
🏦 Banks, Housebuilders and Gambling
Spice runs through the Budget's winners and losers.
🇺🇸 The Fed's Hawkish Hold
Why the team still expect a US rate rise in December, and whether the Fed put is back.
💼 AI and the Jobs Cull
Microsoft, HSBC, Barclays and even the Dutch government announce major AI-driven job cuts.
Portfolio Snapshot – Week 63:
📊 Weekly portfolio performance: +0.1%
📈 Total return since inception: +23.5%
📅 2026 year-to-date return: +10.9%
Top Performers:
📈 WisdomTree Copper ETF: +2.1%
📈 iShares Russell 2000 ETF: +1.5%
📈 Vanguard FTSE 250: +1.0%
Underperformers:
📉 iShares Physical Gold ETC: -1.8%
📉 iShares Core FTSE 100 ETF: -0.6%
📉 iShares Nikkei 225 ETF: -0.2%
Portfolio Changes:
No portfolio changes this week.
After two weeks of repositioning, the team are happy to wait until after the US midterms before making their next move.
Big Questions This Week:
- Are the cracks starting to show in the hyperscalers?
- Did the Budget do enough to calm the gilt market?
- Why is the government selling fewer long-dated gilts?
- Is the Fed put back?
- Will AI job cuts keep interest rates lower than expected?
What You'll Learn:
✔️ What a Budget scorecard reveals
✔️ How gilt issuance can affect mortgage rates
✔️ What a "hawkish hold" means
✔️ What the Fed put is and why it matters
✔️ How equity dilution affects shareholders
Disclaimer:
This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only. The content presented is not intended as personal investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any particular securities or investments. All discussions regarding the model portfolio are illustrative and for educational purposes.
Your capital is at risk. The value of shares, ETFs and ETCs can fall as well as rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in.